Kia ora te whanau o te Kotuku
The value of little acts of human kindness.

Striving for Personal excellence.

At Rutherford, we understand that striving for personal excellence is not an act but a series of habits and positive behaviours we develop over time. Striving for personal excellence is all about many little positive steps in the right direction repeated often.
At Rutherford we know that “We are what we repeatedly do; Excellence is not an act but a habit”.
He taonga rongonui te aroha ki te tangata
Goodwill towards others is a precious treasure

At Rutherford we know this to mean we value little acts of human kindness and if we have nothing good to say including what we post or like online we don’t say anything. We do no harm.
You may like to watch this video

Despite all our positive messaging and reminders of the Rutherford Values such as respect for self and others, responsibility and striving for our personal best at all times, we have experienced a few incidents at Rutherford that leave me very concerned. A few students are not showing tolerance or consideration for others and that is manifesting in altercations that often end up becoming physical. There also is a small group of people who feel that it is okay to cheer from the side-lines and film such events which I find distressing and unacceptable. We do our best to encourage positive behaviours when students are here at school, and I would like to think that this positive messaging is being repeated outside of school. Please help us remind our young people that violence and digital misuse are not an acceptable response for any situation.

Rutherford School Ball

This year the ball will be held on Thursday 7 July at North Lounge, Eden Park Function Centre. The Ball Committee have done a grand job of organising and planning the event. They have decided the theme this year will be The Heiress’ Ball. Only students in years 12 and 13 can attend the ball. A letter with more detailed information was sent out to families last Monday 30 May. Tickets cost $100 per person and must be paid in full by 23 June. Permission from parents and caregivers is compulsory and can be completed via this form. Payments should be made online through the parent portal or via Internet banking. Reference for payments: Student Name, Tutor Class, School Ball. Account: 12 3038 0270894 00 ASB Lincoln Road, Henderson. if students wish to bring a partner from outside of Rutherford College they need to see Ms Farrar, Associate Principal to obtain permission.

Year 10 Literacy/Numeracy Exams

Rutherford College is one of the pilot schools in New Zealand trialling the new Literacy and Numeracy standards that will be pre-requisites for the new NCEA, which is to be implemented at Level 1 in 2024. The literacy and numeracy standards are to be external exams. The standards can be achieved in Years 9 or 10, depending on students’ readiness. This year we are giving our Year 10 students the opportunity to achieve these standards. The first exam sessions are to be held in Week 10: Numeracy Monday 27 June, Reading Literacy Tuesday 28 June and Writing Literacy Thursday 30 June. Not all Year 10 students will be involved in this first session. Parents/caregivers of students who are involved in this first set of exams have already been informed. There will be a second session later this year in Week 9 of Term 3: 19 – 23 September. One of the conditions of the pilot trial is that the exams have to be digital. For this reason we are encouraging students to bring their own devices to school on a more regular basis in preparation for future digital exams. NZQA have advised us that it is better for students to bring their own devices to the external exams but the school will have chrome books for those who do not have their own device. NZQA emphasises that it is better for the students to use their own device, a laptop or chromebook, because they are more familiar with it and can ensure that it is properly charged for their exams.

Winter Hours

Due to the inclement weather this term we have made the decision to shorten lunch breaks by 10 minutes. This means that on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday school will start at 8.50am instead of 8.40. Lunch will be from 1.35pm – 2.10pm. The finish time is still 3.10pm. This will alleviate students being out in the cold for too long at lunchtime. We will trial this for Term 2 only at this stage and review it at the end of term to consider any impacts or benefits. Please note that Wednesday times will remain as they are now.

Traffic Before and After School

Parents/Caregivers could we please implore you to be considerate when you are dropping off or picking up your children before or after school. The residents in Kotuku Street and Toru Street have found their driveways blocked repeatedly by people waiting to pick up children or when dropping them off. Some report they have been abused when they have asked people to make way as they try to get in and out of their driveway. We appreciate that parking is tight around Kotuku Street and Toru Street so perhaps you could arrange to drop off your children in Gloria Ave or Old Te Atatu Road to alleviate some of the congestion. Residents around the school should not have to put up with being sworn at on their own property, or not being able to use their own driveway.

SchooI Board Parent Election 2022

Nomination round
Our school will be undertaking a parent election for 5 School Board vacancies. This process will start with the issuing of nomination papers to our caregiver community by Friday 15th July 2022.
We have employed CES to undertake the election process on our behalf. This year with legislative change, our nomination form and full instruction on how to place your nomination into our own School’s Election website will be emailed to you if we have your email address in our database or you will receive it by post if we don’t have your email in our database. Nomination papers will also be available at the school office. The school will send those on to CES for processing upon receipt from candidates. Nominations close on Wednesday 3rd August at 12 noon. Election day is Wednesday 7th September. We look forward to your participation in this process.

Keep up to date with Rutherford News here.

Kia Kaha
Gary Moore